Synchronicity and Mindfulness Are Keys to Effective Time Management.

There’s more to scheduling your time than setting priorities and filling in blocks in your calendar. In fact, the time you leave blank may be the most important time of all.

Unscheduled time is like white space in in a pleasing design. It gives order, context, and emphasis to the things that matter. It’s also the key to noticing and responding to those nudges and tugs from the universe that Carl Jung dubbed synchronicities.

A synchronicity is a meaningful coincidence, the co-occurrence in time of inner and outer events that show us what we need to know or learn in order to thrive.

You could say the ability to notice and respond to synchronicity is the key to good luck.

The thing is, a synchronicity isn’t manifest until you notice and respond to it. Without this, it’s just random events in a chaotic world. And the key to noticing and responding to synchronicity is white space.

Little bits of white space create spaciousness
Designers talk about two kinds of white space: micro and macro. Micro white space is the space between small elements in a design. In your calendar it’s the bit of wiggle room you allow when you plan your time. It’s allowing ten minutes between clients or giving yourself a bit more time than you think you need for a project.

Without micro white space, you contract and feel pressured. With it, you expand and feel more alert and engaged. Because of this you can sense and respond to the subtle promptings of synchronous events.